Gas-engine.



No. 655,473. Patented Aug. 7, I900.

E. C. WOOD.

GAS ENGINE.

(Application filed Aug. 9, 1899.)

(No Iodal.)

U rrE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD O. WOOD, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO THOMAS W. GLEESON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 655,473, dated August 7, 1900.

Application filed August 9, 1899.

To all whom it 17mg concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD 0. Wool), of. Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Gas-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to explosive gas-engines; and it consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement which I shall now proceed to describe andclaim.

Of the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical section of the invention. Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of the en.- gine, taken on a plane at right angles to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 represents a section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts or features in all the figures.

Referring to the drawings, in which I have shown an embodiment of my invention selected by me for the purpose of illustrating the invention, a designates the cylinder of the engine. b designates the piston operating therein, and c the connecting-rod connccting said piston to a wrist-pin d, mounted on the double crank-plate (1 d which is at-' tached to the divided crank-shaft (Z. The crank revolves in a closed casing a bolted to the end of the cylinder-casting, and the outer surface of the cylinder is cast with a number of ribs or corrugations a a for carrying off the heat therefrom; but it will be understood that the same result might be effected by water-jacketin g the cylinder in the well-known manner. A transverse partition a divides the cylinder-casting into a pistonchamber e which constitutes the main working cylinder, and an explosion and compression chamber above said cylinder. The partition a is centrally apertured and its edges constitute a seat for an upwardly-opening check-valve (2, whose stem 6' is guided in a bearing carried bythecross-arms of a skeleton partition 01' grating e placed crosswise of the chamber e The piston-chamber (L33 and explosion and compression chamber are connected by a by-pass a formed in the cylinder casting and entering the pistonchamber by a port a near the upper end of said chamber.

The operating fluid for theengine, which Serial No. 726,683. (No model.)

is preferably vapor from a hydrocarbon gas, such as gasolene, is admitted through a pipe g into a chamber a, which communicates with the bypass a The passage between said chamber and by-pass is controlled by an inwardly-opening check-valve f,-Whose stem f is surrounded by an outwardly-acting spring f Provisions for admitting air to the chamber a? to be mixed with the hydrocarbon vapor are made, consistingof a port or inlet h, opening from the atmosphere into the chamber a and controlled by a plug-valve h. A plug-valve p in the by-pass o controls the passage of fluid through said by-pass.

Exhaust of the exploded charge from the cylinder is effected through a port a, connecting the compression and explosion chamber ta with a valve-chamber a in which a valve i operates. Below said valve is an exhaustoutlet a". The stem 71 of the valve 1' is surrounded by a valve-closing spring 1? and is connected at its lower end with arod i adapted to reciprocate in a guide (L12 on the side of the cylinder a. At the lower end of said rod is a roll 2, adapted to be engaged by a cam *5, attached to a gear j, which is mounted on a stud j. The teeth of thegear j mesh with those of a second gear 7' attached to the end of the crank-shaft d. The diameter of'the gear 3' is half that of the gear j, so that the gear 3' rotates once during two rotations of the crank-shaft d, and the exhaust-valvet'is opened once for every two complete strokes of the piston b.

For igniting the actuating charge any suit= able form of igniter--such as the igniter of which one electrode is is shown in the draw ings'may be employed.

The operation is as follows: The cycle of the engine is to first draw an explosive mixture of gas and air into the piston-chamber upon the forward stroke of the piston, then to compress this charge upon the next backward stroke of the piston and force it into the compression and explosion chamber, then to ignite the charge asthe' piston moves forward again,'whereby the actual impulse is given to the piston, and then upon the next backward stroke of the piston to exhaust the exploded charge. Assuming the exhaust to have just taken placeand the piston to be at the extremity of its rearward or upward stroke, its next forward movement will create a vacuum in the piston-chamber and a charge of mixed gas and air will be drawn past the oheck-valvefand through the port 00 into the piston-chamber behind the piston. Upon the upward stroke of the piston this charge is forced through the by-pass 0. and past the check-valve 6 into the upper chamber (1 The parts will then have reached the positions represented in the figures of the draw ings. It will be noted that in, Fig. l the piston 1) covers the port a when at the extremity of its rearward stroke. The charge is exploded after the piston has started on its forward stroke and just at the instant before the port (0 is uncovered. The main shock of the explosion is therefore borne by the walls of the chamber 0. The port @5 is then immediately uncovered and the expanding exploded charge enters the piston-chamber and propels the piston forward to the end of its stroke. The next rearward stroke of the piston is an exhausting stroke, and during the same the products of combustion are forced through the by-pass a and past the valve 6 into the chamber (1 and from thence they are liberated by the action of the valve '5 through the exhaust-outleta" either directly into the atmosphere or through a mnflier. The next succeeding forward stroke of the piston commences another cycle.

By manipulating the throttle-valve 10 the size of the opening through the by-pass a may be regulated, thereby varying the force of the explosion on the piston, and hence regulating the speed of the engine. This method of regulating the speed is superior to the method of regulation by varying the proportions of air and gas in the explosive mixture, for when the proportions are varied the result is imperfect combustion and a bad odor from the exhaust, and the resulting variations in the speed are too sudden and great to be readily controllable. By throttling the explosion the speed is simply and easily varied, and the device for mixing the gas and air can be set so as to" preserve a constant proportion in the mixture. This method also does away with the use of mechanical speed-varying devices such as have been used heretofore on automobile vehicles driven by gas-engines, the principal objection to these devices being the power which they absorb by friction.

I claim- 5 5 1. In an explosive-engine, a working cylinder, an explosion-chamber, a passage connecting the two, a check-valve controlling said passage and opening toward the explosionchamber, a second passage connecting the chamber and cylinder, and a throttlingvalve controlling said second passage. v

2. In an explosive-engine, a working cylinder, an explosion-chamber, a passage connectin g the two, a check-valve controlling said passage and opening toward the explosionchamber, a second passage connecting the cham her and cylinder, a throttling-valve controlling said second passage, and a valved f u el-inlet opening into said second passage at a point between the working cylinder and the throttling-valve.

3. In an explosive-engine, a working cylinder, a piston operating therein, an explosion chamber, a passage connecting said chamber and cylinder, a check-valve controlling said passage, and opening toward the'explosion-chambe'r, and a second passage connecting the explosion-chamber and cylinder and entering the latter at a point covered by the side of the piston when the latter is at the beginning of its working stroke.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. EDWARD C. WOOD.

Witnesses: O. F. BROWN,

THOMAS W. GLEESON. 

